The Carnal Prayer Mat by Yu Li

In this paper, I will review Charles Ryrie’s book The Holy Spirit. I will detail what I feel the book is about. I will emphasize various points given by the author that stood out to me. Finally, I will give my personal evaluation of the book.

Change is constant with a society that is always recreating itself. From the Enlightenment period to the Industrial Revolution there is a massive difference when comparing these two societies of their norms and daily life.

Milton’s Paradise Lost has been praised as being the greatest English epic of all time, most stunningly in its author's depiction of the parents of humanity, Adam and Eve. How Milton chose to portray the original mother and father has been a focus of much criticism with contemporary readers. One of the main subjects of these comments is in reference to Eve, who, according to many, is a trivial character that is most definitely inferior to her mate. Nonetheless, many do not recognize that, after the fateful Fall, she becomes a much more evolved character. When Eve is introduced to the storyline of the epic, her character is shallow and extremely undeveloped, meant simply for display. She is quite firmly set as being inferior to her mate

The Novella “The Body” by Stephen King is about a group of boys who all come from abusive dysfunctional families and this book is their journey to discover a dead body. They are young and their immaturity makes them excited to see a dead body but along the way, they begin to realize various things and begin to grow. In this book the four boys Gordie, Chris, Vern, and Teddy come of age. In this essay, there will be brief descriptions about three of the four of the boys from this novella. Chris came from a bad family and was thought to come out the exact same way as his family and was doubted his whole life. Teddy came from an abusive family where his father burned off his ears and took away his hearing. Gordie’s older brother Dennis had died and his family began to treat him like he was invisible and that their only child had died. “Coming of age is when an adolescent protagonist comes to childhood by a process of experience and disillusionment. These characters lose their innocence, discovers that previous preconceptions are false or has the security of childhood torn away, but usually matures and strengthened by this process” (Matthew’s Quote). In Stephen King’s novella “The Body” King shows through Chris, Gordie, and Teddy that a person cannot come of age unless they are able to come to contact with their emotions and reality and be able to forgive to move forward in life.

The boy is very warm-hearted and appears to struggle to understand that danger could occur at any moment, whilst his father knows a lot more about what some people, “the bad guys”, do in order to survive. It could be seen that the child is very naive and therefore trusts others more than his father. However his trust in others teaches his father a valuable lesson; that not everyone is a “bad guy”. For instance when the pair come across Ely, the father is wary about him but his son is adamant that they give him a tin of food. This shows to readers that the boy has faith unlike his father. Another example is when the son sees the little boy; he begs his father to go back and help him and asks if he can go with them. I believe that he wants to help others as

Their aspect of beauty is called “Antiquity” which is the combination of kalos, which is beautiful, and agathos, which is honest and virtuous. Concluding only people who are honest and handsome are considered attractive. While, the Christians put the emphasis on inner beauty, the beauty of the soul and its virtues. Physical beauty has negative connotation with “vanity, lust, and corruption of the flesh (Dürrigl, 209)”, according to Dürrigl, “The more beautiful someone was, the greater danger there was for them losing their souls (209).” Furthermore in Medieval Times, the concept of beauty was dominated by certain philosophical-theological ideas on the relationship of the body with the soul.

society immediately condemns him. As the child grows up, perhaps even the child will feel

The poems of these 13th century times are relevant in today’s 21st century world, portraying a moral lesson that is taught over and over again throughout time. In the poem “Other Men Are Thorn” Mahadeviyakka talks about her marriage and how it destroyed her whole perspective on men. By saying all men are

The boy and the father have strong morals demonstrating a high level of authenticity, especially in a world where morality is extremely uncommon. To be ‘authentic’ means to genuinely be yourself. Although, as presented by Existentialism, one cannot be their true self until one has defined themselves. First, one must create their authentic selves, then they must live according to that (Varga). The father and the boy have strong principles to do what is right, even when their fellow survivors have completely abandoned morality altogether. At times, the father struggles with following said principles, however, he then justifies his actions which are purely for the safety of his son. This depicts that the father will do anything and everything to assure that the boy lives. The father expresses that “He knew only that the child was his warrant. He said: If he is not the word of God God never spoke” (5). When a man holds a knife to the son's neck, the father does not hesitate to kill him. Although this is

The main argument is about the problem posed for the modern viewer by the eroticized body of the political ruler, which wasn't a problem for the ancient - Mesopotamians; that sexuality was inextricably linked to potency to male vigor and manly vigor to dominance and authority. In other words, Irene Winter's thesis is about sexuality signifying rule in ancient times.

Only adults are believed to possess free will. Children are seen as innocents and thus free from the judgment of God. The children are also taught that they must always submit to elders and to the will of God.

Do you think the boy's innocence was already stripped away? I recognize that the man tried to shield the boy from the mass darkness the post apocalyptic world contained, however the boy still exposed to the darkness; no matter how hard the father tried to shield him. In The Road the world that the boy and the man live in requires them to lose their innocence in order for them to

This portrays an early form of sexism, and a highly negative attitude toward the woman, showing that fundamental female qualities such as pregnancy and childbirth are irrelevant and not things to be highly valued. In the Buddha legend and during his life in general, the Buddha showed several contradictions concerning the status of women. He was said to be “torn between the culture and social system, and the conviction that women are as capable as men.”[3] Firstly, Maya, the name of his mother, means illusion in Sanskrit. However, in ancient Indian beliefs from which Tibetan Buddhism emerged, Maya was the name of the most powerful goddess who represented all material things in the universe. The Buddha also believed that the woman’s body was something impure and dirty, which then manifested itself into impure and evil personality characteristics. “The female’s defects – greed, hate, delusion, and other defilements – are greater than the male’s…Because I wish to be freed from the impurities of the woman’s body, I will acquire the beautiful and fresh body of a man.”[4] Women were believed to have uncontrolled sexuality, which was greatly frowned upon by men. The Buddha comments that “it were better that your sex enter the mouth of a poisonous snake than that it enter a woman.”[5] This rather harsh statement about male disgust toward sexual intercourse with women is the foundation of one of the biggest contradictions found in Tibetan Buddhism. Not only did

This essay focuses on the theme of forbidden love, The God of Small Things written by Arundhati Roy. This novel explores love and how love can’t be ignored when confronted with social boundaries. The novel examines how conventional society seeks to destroy true love as this novel is constantly connected to loss, death and sadness. This essay will explore the theme of forbidden love, by discussing and analysing Ammu and Velutha's love that is forbidden because of the ‘Love Laws’ in relation to the caste system which results in Velutha’s death. It is evident that forbidden love negatively impacts and influences other characters, such as Estha and Rahel, which results in Estha and Rahel’s incestuous encounter.

Page 45 "His limbs were in proportion and I had selected his features as beautiful. Beautiful!" - Great god!